I have now finished the first half of the grade 12 physics course in the Ron Paul Curriculum. This past week was spent reviewing the topics and concepts that were taught from Week 3 to Week 17. Throughout each week I worked through practice problems, and though I wanted to type them out here, they were far too complicated for my keyboard.
Week 3:
- Position
- Motion is relative
- Change in position: velocity and speed
- Change in velocity with respect to time: acceleration – slope of the curve or line
- Gravity on earth: 9.81 m/s^2
- Relating velocity and displacement: change in V = a * t
- Unit conversions
- Kinematics: position, velocity, and acceleration
- Constant acceleration
- Kinematic equations
- v = v. + at
- v = (v. +v)/2
- x = x. + v.t + ½ at^2
- v^2 = v.^2 + 2a(x – x.)
Week 4 & 5:
- Practice problems
Week 6:
- Forces
- Newton’s 1st law of motion
- Inertia
- Newton’s 2nd law of motion: F = ma
- Newton’s 3rd law of motion
- Mass and Weight
- Normal Force
- Summing forces on a body
- Free body diagrams
- Frictional forces between surfaces
- Inclines
- Ropes
- Pulley systems
Week 7:
- Work: W = F ll d, W = Fd cos x
- Power: P = W/t, P = Fv
- Kinetic Energy: KE = ½ mv^2
- Intro to Potential energy
- Conserved forces
- Conservation of mechanical energy & equations
Week 8 & 9:
- Practice problems
Week 10:
- Banking of curves
- Angular position
- Angular velocity
- Centripetal acceleration
- Rolling without slipping
- Torque
- Mass moment of Intertia
Week 11:
- Angular kinetic energy
- KE of a moving body
- Conservation of Energy
- Rotational work
- Power
- Angular momentum
- Changing angular momentum
- Conservation of angular momentum
- Direction of angular momentum: right hand rule
Week 12:
- Statics
- Static equilibrium & equations & 2D
- Problem solving
- Stress
- Relation between stress and strain
- Elastic and Plastic behaviour
- Calculating deformation
- Sheer strain
- Yield stress
- Fracture
Week 13:
- Definition of a fluid
- Density: p = m/v
- Density of water vs. temperature
- Weight density
- Specific gravity
- Pressure
- Fluid types
- Pressure in a liquid
- Archimedes principle
- Pascal’s principle
- Hydraulic jack
- Pressure in a fluid
- Atmospheric pressure
- Barometers
- Gauge pressure
- Continuity equation
- Viscosity
- Bernoulli’s principle
Week 14: (for some reason my favourite week)
- Simple harmonic motion
- Terms:
- Amplitude
- Period
- Cyclical frequency
- Angular frequency
- Undamped free vibration
- Natural frequency
- Energy in a Simple Harmonic Oscillator
- Position as a function of time
- Simple Pendulum
- Damping
- Forced vibrations
- Natural frequency & resonance
- Wave motion
- Wave speed
- Reflection of waves
- Interference
- Wave length & wave speed
- Standing waves
Week 15:
- Wave length diagram
- Transverse and Longitudinal waves
- Sound waves
- Intensity of sound
- Inverse square law
- Threshold of hearing
- Decibles
- Sound transmitting mediums
- Speed of sound
- Transmission of sound
- Refraction of sound
- Standing wave frequency
- Beats
- Doppler effect
- Bow waves & shock waves
- Sonic “booms”
Week 16:
- Temperature
- Phases of matter
- Thermal expansion: linear & volume
- Equation of state
- Ideal gas law: PV = nRT
- Moles: n = mass/ molecular mass
- Standard Temperature and Pressure
- Kinetic Theory
- Assumptions
- Average velocity
- Critical point & critical temperature
- PT diagram
- Evaporation
- Vapor pressure
- Boiling
- Partial pressure
- Relative humiduty
Week 17:
- Definitions of heat/ heat transfer
- Quantities of heat: calorie (cal) or Joules
- Mechanical equivalent of heat
- Joule’s experiment
- Internal energy
- Specific heat: Q = m*c*change in T
- Latent heat
- Conduction
- Thermal conductivity
- Natural convection
- Forced convection
- Windchill factor
- Newton’s law of cooling
- Convection coefficient
- Radiation heat transfer
- Emitters
- Absorption & reflection
- Radiation & convection
louisa neudorf 